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Friday, August 31, 2007

Toledo Christian School Recap (the unexpected)

God did the unexpected at TCS. When I got to TCS, I could tell that this wasn't going to be like "church camp." It was obvious that many thrived on sports, girls, and the party scene rather than for Christ. Chapel was not something that many of them looked forward to, and listening to sermons often times turned them off. When I asked someone who their spiritual leaders were of the school, no one could be named. However, God got a hold of many of them and here is the basic flow of the movement that happened among us:

First Impression- I went on a 30 hour retreat with the Juniors and Seniors and I could tell that many in this crowd were not wanting to go deeper with the Lord. There was a definite wall, so I soon began praying, "God is it possible for you to move in 30 hours? If so please do! I could use some help with this group of 130 Juniors and Seniors."

Unbreakable- After the first two messages I could tell this was a crowd that thought that they had heard it all before, and some of them would go into either shut-down mode or talk-to-your-friend mode.

God's Break Through-After the third message I felt like God BROKE THROUGH and many of them knelt on the hard cement floor committing to follow God wherever He leads them.

One willing to take a Stand- One of the students that came forward was Justin, the 2006 Linebacker of the year.

An Army ready to take a Stand- On our final session I let Justin give the "message" and told him to speak as long as he needed. For the first time, everyone was on the edge of their seats, no one talked, and everyone listened intently. He told them that them about some mistakes that he had made and why he got suspended from school and some games...then he boldly challenged them to get right and to join him in taking a stand for Christ this year. At the end of the session nearly every athlete and non-athlete stood to their feet and said that it was time to make a difference for Christ at their school.

A Movement Begins- A day later I did a Chapel service for the Senior High and at the close of the service the football players that had chosen to follow after Christ led the pack with a war cry for Christ and the whole High school joined in shouting "CHRIST FIRST...FOR HIM!". We closed our session in a huge huddle lifting up prayers to God. God was moving...

The Army takes a Stand- That afternoon I was getting ready to do a chapel for the Junior High and before our service started, numerous high school students that were ready to step it up got out of class on their own initiative and scattered themselves in the bleachers among the Junior High students. I had chills watching them put spiritual leadership into action. And I knew that they weren't there to skip class because many of them had chosen to leave study hall. For some of the Juniors and Seniors this was their first time being a leader for Christ and it was a very gripping moment for me to watch. At the close of my message we had an impromptu prayer time lead by the senior high in several prayer huddles. It was awesome! Praise God!

I truly believe that God is raising up an unstoppable army for Him at TCS. If you were a part of the action I would love to hear what God did in your heart and pass it along to others. Feel free to leave it in the comment section. May God's blessing be upon you TCS!!!! And may you be a people who will really do anything for your KING!!!!